


Song of Sorrow

by Miyuame



Category: Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII Series, Final Fantasy XIII-2
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Love Triangle, Multi, Music, Mystery, Psychological, Romance, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2015-07-12
Packaged: 2018-02-14 03:48:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2176848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miyuame/pseuds/Miyuame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chance meetings, a reunion ten years in the making, and a rose key...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. That Fateful Day

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I had to deconstruct and then reconstruct this fanfic because the direction that the story was going in started to veer completely away from what I’d originally imagined and intended. The story turned into a completely different animal, and became difficult to not only write but to continue.

**Title:** Song of Sorrow

 **Rating:** T for suggestive themes and language

 **Summary:** A/U.On a cold snowy winter day Noel was alone in Eden Park depressed that his band Ragnarok didn’t make the finals in the Eden Band Showcase Contest, but on this day he met a special person in the park named Claire, and at the time they didn’t know it, but their fates were intertwined from that day forward and would bring them together again ten years later.HopexLightning  & eventual NoelxLightning

 **Setting:** This story completely disregards the canon plot/storylines of FFXIII and FFXIII-2. Cocoon and Pulse are on good terms with each other and all of their respective cities/towns remain intact.

**Chapter 1 That Fateful Day**

_30 th Annual Eden Band Showcase Contest (Practice Room 03)_

Noel and his band mates were practicing diligently before it was their turn to take to the stage and perform in front of the contest’s judges. Noel was excited because he and his band members worked hard and had to go through quite a bit to get to this point, but in the end he thought it was all worth it.

But while Noel was excited he was just as equally nervous too. A perfectly normal combination of emotions during a situation like this he thought.

The band had just finished wrapping up their song when a female staff member knocked on their practice room door and told them that they could now start setting their equipment up on the stage.

Noel could feel the butterflies in his stomach increase which wasn’t a good thing. Hope could tell that Noel was extremely nervous and decided to reassure him that things would pan out.

He placed a hand on Noel’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. “Hey, everything’s going to be alright. Just play like you normally do during all of our practices.” Noel turned his head to face Hope. “Thanks, Hope. I needed that.” He said with a slight smile.

Noel was close to all of his band members including Cid and Yuj to a certain extent, but out of all the Ragnarok band members he was extremely close to Hope. He felt that Hope understood him the best.

Noel, Hope, Yuj and Cid have spent two years preparing for this very day. Each and every one of them knew exactly just what was at stake here. The band was able to make it to the semi-finals in the contest if they made it past this round they would be in the finals and one step closer to debuting as an official band. The winning band of the contest would be granted an exclusive contract with a major music company of the band’s choosing and awarded $100,000 to kick start their music careers.  

 “Are you guys coming or are you just going to stand there all day?” Yuj asked. “Cid’s already gone off ahead.” Noel and Hope just looked at Yuj and replied in unison, “We’re coming.”  

_Eden Park_

Noel let out a huge sigh before he took a seat on his favorite bench in Eden Park. It was early winter and the snowfall had just begun. As he watched the snowflakes fall his mind raced back to the Eden Band Showcase Contest. Everything was going great, but when it was finally time for them to perform in front of the judges Noel had let his nervousness get the better of him. Ragnarok was a notably well-known band within the underground music scene. Despite that fact, the band had never performed in front of such a large scale audience before because the underground music scene scope was relatively small, and Ragnarok as a band wasn’t at that level of an audience draw yet. They were still in a sense essentially considered rookies.

Noel normally didn’t have stage fright to this degree, but since he had never truly performed in front of such a largescale audience something like this was bound to happen. Prior to the contest he had only performed in front of small audiences at local bars. Noel believed he could handle facing such a large crowd, and that his nerves wouldn’t get the better of him. This train of thought, of course led him to disaster and his band ultimately being disqualified. Noel hated to admit it, but he knew deep down that he was the main liability within the band. He would need to overcome his stage fright if the band was ever to become successful.

He soon returned to reality and tried to shake off the after thoughts of that horrific event. “I really blew it didn’t I? We were so close, but I had to ruin it all because I got nervous at the last second. Why couldn’t I deliver for the band when I needed to the most?” He said to himself. “Dammit!” Noel pounded his fist on the back rest of the bench in frustration and buried his face into his hands. Abruptly, a burst of chilling winter wind blew through the air Noel shivered in response and proceeded to re-adjust his navy blue scarf around his neck. In the distance, he heard what sounded like the clicking of high heels on the park’s cobblestone sidewalk. He looked to his left to where the sound was coming from, and saw a girl with shoulder length rose-colored hair, which perfectly fell down the sides of her heart shaped face approaching. She was wearing a long-sleeved red winter themed top, a medium-length black skirt with pockets, black stockings, black ankle boots, and had a crimson red scarf wrapped around her neck. It was an oddity to Noel to see someone else here because no one was usually in Eden Park on Sundays let alone at this time of day which made it the perfect place to come, to think, and to be alone. Before he knew it the girl had already reached the bench that he was sitting on.

Noel looked at her taking in more of her features especially her piercing cerulean blue eyes. The girl then spoke, “It seems like I’m not the only one who likes to come to this park to escape from reality”, she paused before she continued, “And it would also seem that I’m not the only one who thinks this bench has the best view of the scenery within the park”, she remarked. She then took a seat in the empty space on the bench next to Noel. She then turned to face him and asked gingerly, “You don’t mind if I sit here do you?” Noel was a bit flustered by his sudden company’s presence.

“No, not at all.” He answered blushing slightly.

“That’s good to hear I didn’t want to unintentionally intrude on your personal space.”

Noel took this as a chance to strike up a conversation with her. I mean, it wasn’t everyday that a beauty like her appeared in front of you. He was very curious about her.

“So, call me a little curious and I hope you don’t mind me asking, but I was wondering what type of harsh or depressing reality are you escaping from?”

The girl remained silent and Noel began to immediately regret asking that question. He was about to apologize for prying but she finally spoke.

“I just have a lot on my plate right now with high school, my sister, and my overall future. Just your typical teenage stuff”, she said with a slight smirk. “How about you?”

“Oh, me well…my band almost made it to the finals of a band contest, but I cracked under the pressure when we had to perform in front of the judges and a large audience. Last minute stage fright kind of embarrassing, huh?” He said sheepish.

“No, not really stage fright is something that you can grow out of overtime with practice besides you’re young you still have time. You’re like what? Fourteen?” She said jokingly.

Noel became slightly offended by her remark. “Hey, for your information I’m fifteen and you’re still in high school too, but since you find it so amusing to poke fun at my age how old are you then?”

“That’s classified information, but maybe I’ll tell you later or when you’re a little older.” She said teasingly. 

Noel leaned back on the park bench. “Hey, that’s not fair. You’re a total tease.” He said smiling. After that they just fell into natural conversation with each other as if they had been friends for years. It was so odd and yet calming at the same time her presence just had that effect on him, and it was nice having someone that he could confide in and talk to.

“My name is Noel. What’s yours?”  
“Claire.”

Noel felt an instant connection to her. There was a deeply seated mutual understanding shared between them. He could also tell from the casual friendly vibe shared between them that the feelings were mutual on her side as well. Time just seemed to fly by when they were together.

They had found themselves meeting up with each other at the park around the same time on Sunday evenings; it had become a routine occurrence for them. Sometimes he would arrive at their usual spot before she did. Each time they met up they would talk and hang out telling each other how their week has been and so forth.

It was now mid-winter Claire and Noel were in the park Sunday evening for their usual meetup, but there was something different about Claire today she wasn’t her usual self. Something wasn’t quite right. The evening light in the sky soon faded into night and the park’s lamppost lights started to turn on.

Claire was moving away with her family within two days’ time and this would be the last evening that she would be able to spend with Noel in the park. She would usually stay until 9:00 p.m. but she was staying way past her usual curfew time. Claire wanted to tell him that she was moving far away, but she didn’t quite know how to get the words out. Right now, she was just biding her time. Trying to enjoy her very last moments with him.

When Noel questioned her about staying way past her normal curfew time she simply said that she felt like staying longer than she usually did. Noel summed it all up as her wish of being a little rebellious. She did mention to him before that she wanted to act rebellious at least once in her life.

Claire was slowly building up the courage to tell Noel what she had been meaning to tell him all evening. While she was doing that Noel was slowly inching his left hand towards her right hand that was sitting on the bench’s seat. Today he had made up his mind he was going to confess his feelings towards Claire. Over the course of their meetings together he had come to love Claire as more than just a friend. He wasn’t afraid of rejection he’s faced rejection during various different intervals within his life.

He wanted Claire to know the truth and how he truly felt about her he couldn’t lie to himself anymore. His initial feelings of friendship had blossomed into love this was all-new territory for him as he had never felt this way about a girl before. He was trying to proceed into this new foreign world of love with caution.

His hand had reached its destination and was now resting on top of Claire’s. He was waiting to see if she would say anything or quickly remove her hand from his. You can imagine his shock when she didn’t. He wondered if maybe just maybe she felt the same way about him.

When Claire felt Noel’s hand come into contact with hers it initially caught her off guard. She turned her head so that she was facing him. Was this his way of encouraging her to say what she needed to?

A small smile formed upon her lips. She was going to go for it. Claire figured she’d already wasted enough time skirting around the issue. “I-“ Both of them said in unison. The pair of teens started laughing. “What were you going to say? You can go first.” Noel offered her.

Claire took him up on his offer. She couldn’t help but to be curious about what he was going to say. She cleared her throat before starting. “Noel I’m...” Noel’s lovingly gaze was fixated upon her very own and it made it all the more difficult for her to say what she needed to.

Claire admitted to herself that through the time she had spent together with Noel she had grown too fond of him and didn’t want to sour the current look on his face. “I’m eighteen. You’ve wanted to know my age and I said I would tell you it later.” Dammit! She just couldn’t go through with it. Claire was disappointed in herself.

Meanwhile, Noel was baffled by her sudden confession why did she bring up her age all of a sudden. It’s true that he did want to know it, but why did she mention it now of all times; especially just when he’s about to confess?

“Hmm, so you’re three years older than me.”  
“Surprised?” She asked.  
“Not really, in a way I kind of expected it.”

The clock tower within the park started chiming signaling that it was midnight. Claire abruptly arose from the bench. “I’m sorry Noel but I need to get home before I get scolded even more than I already am.” She started to run off in the direction which she had come from earlier.

Noel also stood up running after her. “Claire, wait!” He called out. She was too fast for him and already out of earshot. When he realized that he wasn’t going to catch up to her he stopped running. All he could do is helplessly watch her reseeding form under the cloak of night. “Claire, I love you.” He whispered softly.  

Noel made his way back to the bench which he and Claire had frequently occupied. He was about to start heading home himself when out of the corner of his eye he spotted an intricately designed key sitting on the bench where Claire had sat minutes before she left. He figured that the key must’ve belonged to her, and had fell out of her pants pocket when she left in such a haste. He proceeded to pick up the key; examining its design.

The key was beautifully designed it had a chain which artistically ran down the main length of the key, the bottom end of the key was square in design with a cross-like inner cutting, the top of the key had an intricate design with two flower leaves adorning it along with a small red rose on a relatively small cogwheel, and a small mini-clocklike structure located slightly just beneath the cogwheel with the small red rose. When Noel flipped the key over on the side he saw two small initials inscribed onto the top of the back of the main length of the key which read “ _C.F._ ”

“These must be Claire’s initials.” Noel thought while looking at the key fondly. “I guess I’ll hold onto this key for her until we meet again next Sunday.”


	2. Ten Years Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: As mentioned in the previous chapter Noel is a part of a band called Ragnarok, and the band will be one of the main focuses of the story aside from the character’s relationships with one another. Here’s a list of the band members of Ragnarok and their positions:  
> Noel Kreiss Age 25-main vocalist/guitarist  
> Hope Estheim Age 27-bassist/leader  
> Yuj Age 24-electronic keyboard/maknae*  
> Cid Raines Age 28-drummer/visual  
> *A term used in the K-pop music scene, which is typically often used to refer to the youngest member within the music group/band.  
> In terms of sound when it comes to music Ragnarok’s music sounds like the perfect cross of the J-rock bands UVERworld and Lucifer often stylized as Λucifer. Ragnarok can belt out hardcore/alternative rock songs like UVERworld and sensual/soft rock songs like Λucifer.  
> Recommended UVERworld sample songs to listen to: Core Pride, Chance, Colors of the Heart, and Gekidou  
> Recommended Λucifer sample songs to listen to: C no Binetsu, Tokyo Illusion, Dummy, and Dakishimeru Hokani Naniga Dekirundarou

**Chapter 2 Ten Years Later**

Noel awoke to the familiar sound of his alarm clock going off signaling that it was 7 a.m. his usual wake-up time. He begrudgingly got up out of bed and turned off the alarm. He could see patches of sun peeking through his bedroom’s curtained windows. Spring had finally arrived in Eden.

He made his way towards the bathroom to shower and to start the process of getting ready to head to his record label’s recording studio. Noel and his band Ragnarok are currently working on their new studio album, and were going to be meeting with the composer for their album. As Noel was getting dressed he reminisced about the past. “Time sure does fly”, he thought quietly to himself.

This year marks the tenth year since I last saw Claire in Eden Park. Ever since then I’ve never encountered her again at the park, and I haven’t stopped thinking about her since that day. At that moment, thoughts about what could have happened to her reeled through Noel’s head. He didn’t even want to fathom the worst. In the end, he decided to cling to the small hope that Claire was safe wherever she was and that she was living a healthy and happy life.

Two years after Ragnarok’s disastrous results at the Eden Band Showcase Contest Ragnarok at long last got their big break. Ragnarok since then has become one of the most popular international bands in Cocoon. Of course, it wasn’t an easy journey to get to that point, but Noel along with his band members were extremely determined to succeed no matter the cost. Noel and his band mates feverishly auditioned at many different band contests, took on any performance gigs that they could find to help to get their name out there, and faced rejection from a multitude of various record labels. All hope for the band’s chances at success seemed lost.

Eventually, because of the band’s strong sense of perseverance they caught the eye of Fang a female talent scout from the record label Lindzei. She was scouting for new talent and came across Ragnarok performing at the Shiva Sisters Live & Bar which the band frequently performed. Before Noel knew it the band signed a contract with the esteemed record label, went through extensive training provided by the company, and was on their way to major success.

Noel soon snapped out of his thoughts as he put the finishing touches on his outfit. He was wearing dark-rinsed blue jeans, black boots, a white short-sleeved t-shirt, his pulsian tribe necklace that he had since his childhood, and his custom designer sunglasses. He then grabbed his guitar carrying case and in one smooth motion slung the strap of the case over his right shoulder. He then grabbed his loft apartment keys and motorcycle keys, headed down the stairs of his loft apartment, and out the front door locking the door behind him.

Noel made his way to the loft apartment complex’s garage. He walked to the area where his custom designed sleek black motorcycle awaited. Noel clipped his sunglasses to the collar of his t-shirt before sliding his dark blue motorcycle helmet on and mounting the motorcycle. He first made sure that everything was adjusted right and according to his liking before putting his keys into the ignition and turning them. The finely-tuned motorcycle roared to life. He released the motorcycle’s kickstand before he drove away to his destination the Lindzei Recording Studio.

Twenty minutes later he arrived at the recording studio. He parked his motorcycle, locked it, and headed to the recording studio room where the rest of his band members were. He soon arrived at the band’s designated recording room, and as soon as he opened the door he was greeted with a warm welcome by his band members Yuj and Cid Raines. They were both sitting on the black leather couch of the lounging area room, which was adjacent to the opulent recording studio room.

“Hey! Noel I’m glad that you made it”, Yuj said with praise. “That’s right usually Noel is the last one to arrive to our meetings”, Cid coolly chipped in.

Noel gave a slight chuckle before he retorted, “I’m never late everyone else just simply arrives too early.” Noel gave a quick glance around the room and asked, “Where’s Hope?”

Yuj gave an exasperated sigh. “Noel, don’t tell me that you already forgot that Hope’s girlfriend is going to be the composer of our new album. Remember? He was constantly gushing to us about her, and how he finally got her to give in and compose some of the songs on our album. She’s known as a world-renowned freelance composer her name is Lightning.”

“I’m very interested to see what kind of person she is”, Cid remarked.

“You and me both, Cid. She’s a woman shrouded in mystery as no one has actually supposedly met with her face-to-face before, except for Hope that is. Many unfounded rumors have swirled about her physical appearance and exotic beauty. In addition, the only way that she communicates with her clients when she’s composing music for them is through her middleman Odin. Not to mention there have been numerous copycats claiming to be Lightning floating around. So how do we even known that the one that we’re meeting today is the genuine article?”

“Guys, this is Hope we’re talking about here. As you all know he’s a very thorough person and I’m sure that he’s checked into everything.” Noel said reassuringly.

“I don’t know Noel you’d be surprised about how convincing a fake could very well be.” Yuj retorted.

Noel recalled that Hope was overly affectionate about his girlfriend whenever he talked about her. They have been going out for almost three years now and dated in secret. That’s no surprise otherwise the media would have been all over the news in a heartbeat; it would’ve spread like wildfire all across the media. Hope said that he met her in Bodhum while he was vacationing there three years back.

“So, Noel are you going to come in and sit down, or are you just going to stand in the doorway all day?” Yuj said smirking.

Noel gave a slight smile and shook his head in a teasing manner as he closed the door behind him. He then took a seat next to Yuj on the black leather couch. Noel then proceeded to lean his guitar carrying case on the arm of the couch. There was an array of various refreshments on the pristine glass table in front of the couch.

“Speaking of girlfriends”, Yuj said while playfully elbowing Noel’s left arm, “Are you still pining after your dream girl, Claire?”  
“So what if I am?” Noel replied.  
Yuj let out a huge sigh. “Noel it’s been almost ten years now. I’m pretty sure she would have recognized you or tried to get in contact with you by now. I mean, we’ve had numerous broadcast appearances our music, commercials, and promos are shown all over the world. Don’t you think it’s time that you stop chasing the shadows from your past and move on?”

Yuj’s statement turned Noel’s current mood sour. “You don’t understand anything about her. She’s one of the good things from my strident past, and I’m not ready to let go of her just yet. I’ve already made a promise to myself that if I don’t find any new leads on her by the end of this year then that would be the time I would let her go.”

Yuj placed one of his hands on Noel’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Yuj then turned his attention towards Cid. “How about you Cid?”  
“I’m not interested in that sort of thing or marriage for that matter.”  
“Hmm, not interested or you just haven’t come across the right lady yet.”  
Cid sent Yuj a chilling death glare. “Yuj, you better drop this subject or I’ll drop you. I don’t flirt around with every beautiful girl I come across like you do. I would appreciate it if you would refrain from lumping me together with you.”

“Hey, that was kind of harsh, man.” Yuj said with a slight pout.  
Noel couldn’t contain his laugher at the accuracy of Cid’s statement.

“By the way, did you two finish the homework that Hope assigned us while he was away on his three day trip to pick up Lightning?” Cid asked while crossing his arms. Their assignment was to come up with themes/concepts for their new album.

“Of course”, both of them answered.  
“Good.”

“Water?” Yuj asked Noel as he handed him a glass filled with water.

Noel thanked Yuj as he took the glass of water from Yuj’s hand. A little bit of time elapsed before the door creaked opened. At that moment, everyone in the room turned their undivided attention to the two figures standing in the doorway.

Noel immediately turned his attention to the blonde-haired female who had entered the room before Hope. Noel almost couldn’t believe the sight that was right before his eyes. That couldn’t be her could it? For the most part she did look like the girl that he met in Eden Park that cold winter day ten years ago, but she was visibly different as her hair was longer and wavy the long length of it was draped over her left shoulder, her cheeks were slightly rosier, and her skin had more of an ivory tone to it. Even her eye color was different it was a pale aqua and not the same cerulean blue which Noel remembered. There were also some features that were undeniably the same as the girl that he met in his childhood like her heart shaped face, and her pale pink lips. “There was no way that this could be real”, Noel thought.

“I’m sorry that I’m a little late, but we ran into some traffic on the way here.” Hope said sheepish. Hope then gestured to his blonde-haired companion and introduced her to his band members. “This is the composer of our new studio album Lightning Farron and my beloved girlfriend.”

“Hope you didn’t need to add that last bit.” She said partly flustered.

Lightning then gave a formal bow to the members of Ragnarok. “It’s a pleasure to meet all of you, and I look forward to working with you.”

“Farron? Could you by any chance be the daughter of Kyohei Farron the famed music mogul and Averia Farron the retired songstress?” Yuj inquired.

“You’re correct.” She answered.

Noel arose from the couch shell-shocked he was still holding his glass of water. As a result, of still reeling from the amount of shock he lost his grip on his glass of water, which then slipped from his hand and fell onto the wooden floor shattering into pieces.

“Jeez, Noel you sure did pick the right time to become a klutz”, Yuj said as he bent down, and carefully started picking up the shattered glass pieces.

“Hey! Noel are you even listening to me…?” As Yuj looked up at Noel’s face he became very worried. It was as if Noel had just seen a ghost from his past or something of that nature.

Noel couldn’t see or hear anyone else in the room it was like they weren’t even there in the first place as his eyes were only focused on the mysterious blonde-haired woman who went by the name of “Lightning”.

Noel held the attention of everyone within the room including Hope and Lightning. When Lightning’s gaze locked with Noel’s she felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her. The sensation was strange to her because she could assert that she had never met him prior until today.

Hope closing the room’s door snapped her out of her daze. He rushed over to Noel’s side. “Noel are you alright?” He asked with a worried voice. Hope’s voice brought him back to reality. “Yeah, I’m fine. I guess that I was a little star-struck that’s all. Now shall we get this meeting started?” Noel said smiling.

Yuj was finished cleaning up the remaining pieces of shattered glass and disposing of them. Lightning joined the Ragnarok band members over at the black leather couch, which they were all occupying taking a seat between Hope and Noel.

“There’s something that I’m curious about why all the secrecy? Do you not like to show your face?” Noel asked Lightning.

“Well, when you come from a well know prestigious family like mine you’d definitely want to have as much privacy from the media as you can get. Not only that but I wanted to make it in the music world through my own talent standing on my own two feet and not by living under my father’s famous shadow.”

“I see.” Noel remarked. Did I make a mistake? Was I too hopeful in thinking that she was Claire because of my longing to see her after all of these years? One thing was for sure he would continue to observe her closely until his sentiments regarding her were completely dispelled. Noel had this belief that if he ever did encounter Claire again he would be able to recognize her instantly, but he wasn’t quite sure if the same could be said of her.

Not to mention the fact that Lightning was Hope’s girlfriend Noel’s closest friend complicated matters even further. What would he do if she did in fact turned out to be Claire? He currently didn’t know the answer to that question.

“Before we get started with the meeting I also have a question for you, Lightning.” Yuj chipped in.

“What is it?”  
Yuj cleared his throat before continuing. “How exactly did Hope convince you to come out and see the light of day when no one else could?”

“That aspect shall remain a closely guarded secret.” Hope coolly intercepted. Damn! His answer just made Yuj even more curious.  
  
The first official meeting for Ragnarok’s 7th studio album was now underway and was going smoothly. The group had decided on an overall fantasy concept for their album and musical style. After eating their lunch they all said their goodbyes to each other before going their separate ways and agreeing on a time to meet up again tomorrow.

_Hope’s Apartment_

“Welcome, to the place which you’ll be calling home for the next few months.” Hope said as he gestured for Lightning to enter the apartment. He rolled in his own suitcase from his trip along with the three suitcases Lightning had brought with her before closing and locking the front door behind him.

“Lightning, I thought you said that you traveled light.” Hope quipped. “I do.” She countered in earnest. Hope’s apartment was luxurious and spacious even so Lightning wasn’t ready to tour her new abode yet she was tired from her and Hope’s long road trip.

When he picked her up in Bodhum he finally met with her parents. On their way back to Eden they stopped by Palumpolum to stay the night and for Lightning to meet his parents for the first time since they started dating. He was relieved that both meetings went over well with both or their respective parents.

“Follow me, Light. I’ll show you to your room.” Light was the nickname which Hope often affectionately called her by when it was just the two of them. At first, she didn’t like it and thought it was corny but the nickname eventually grew on her. She followed Hope up the stairs to her bedroom, which was the second room located on the left side of the hallway’s long corridor.

He opened the bedroom’s door to reveal a nicely decorated room. Lightning walked inside inspecting her room’s surroundings. “Do you like it?” Lightning turned her head so that she was looking at Hope over her shoulder who was still standing in the bedroom’s doorway. “Yes.”

“I’m glad that the room pleases you.” He was about to turn on his heel to head back downstairs to retrieve her suitcases when he remembered something. He turned back to face her. “Oh, and by the way my room’s located at the end of this hallway. For just in case if you ever get lonely.” Hope said whimsically before he left to go back down the stairs.

“Heh. You wish.” She smirked.

 

 

 


	3. Recording Session

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So, just to recap in case if anyone was slightly confused regarding some of this story’s revelations during the last chapter allow me to clarify them and go into further details. Lightning is the daughter of Kyohei Farron who is a famous music producer who came from humble beginnings and worked his way all up to the top tier within the entertainment industry. Averia Farron Lightning’s mother who is now a retired songstress works currently in broadcasting, but back in her heyday she was considered a talented and gifted young woman well beyond her years. Even though Hope and Lightning have been dating for roughly three years they haven’t had as much time as they would like to spend together due to their demanding busy schedules. Lightning’s parents were often worried that she would never settle down due to her being married to her career. Lastly, when Lightning decided to become a composer she didn’t want to be associated with her famous parents, so she adopted her own unique way of meeting with clients to compose music for them using a method where she could still retain her privacy. When Lightning and her sister Serah were growing up their parents were very protective of them and were very careful in not exposing them to the media.

**Chapter 3 Recording Session**

_Noel’s Apartment_

Noel carefully leaned his guitar case up against the lone red sofa chair in his bedroom before proceeding to plummet backwards onto his soft bed. He let out a sigh before he slung his left forearm over his forehead.

“Damn, what a day this first meeting was…I really wasn’t prepared for it at all.” He stared up at his bedroom’s ceiling as he began to recall today’s album meeting.

Especially, the alluring female who went by the name of Lightning Farron; who bore an uncanny resemblance to Claire Noel’s childhood friend and first love.

During the meeting Noel kept a tight lid on his emotions and acted professional. He shifted his body to the left as he continued to ponder his theories regarding Lightning, but it didn’t do him any good just thinking about it.

He sat up-right on his bed his mind still continuing to swirl with ideas and then it dawned on him. The best way to get to the bottom of this mystery was to start researching using a familiar friend called the Internet.

Noel pushed himself off of his bed and strode over to the area of his room where his desktop computer awaited. He booted the computer up and patiently waited for the computer to be completely finished starting up. Meanwhile, while that was going on he walked over to his dresser and opened its top rightmost drawer to reveal an ornate jewel encrusted chest.

He took the chest out setting it on top of the dresser before he proceeded to open it. The rose key which Claire had left sitting on the park’s bench was laying perfectly upon the blue velvet cushions within the chest. It had been quite some time since Noel had laid his eyes on this key, which served as his only memento and connection to Claire.

He gently grabbed the key inspecting it intimately as he had done many times before in the past. He then flipped it over to once again look at the engravings on the back of it. The initials read “ _C.F.”_ This got Noel’s exuberant mind racing again. Obviously, the _C_ stood for Claire and the _F_ meant her surname started with that letter.

Noel noted that Claire had never mentioned her last name to him she only told him her first name, and more importantly how could he even be sure that Claire was her real name in the first place? There were plenty of other names that started with a C.

Noel soon quelled that very thought. No, that couldn’t be she was very genuine, honest, and sincere when she spoke to him Claire was definitely her first name. From the corner of his eye Noel could see that the computer was finished booting up completely. He returned the rose key back into its resting place before closing the chest and placing it back into its respective dresser drawer.

He then took a seat in his black leather desk chair in front of his computer’s screen. He then began his extensive research regarding the esteemed Farron family through various search engines. The results of his research left much to be desired. The only thing that came up within his research that was remotely noteworthy was that Kyohei Farron and Averia Farron had two daughters. He only found pictures of Kyohei and Averia but nothing on their two daughters. How odd Noel thought. Why the hell was anything related to their daughters so heavily shrouded in secrecy? Was there some sort of bone chilling truth that they didn’t want people to know, perhaps? Or were they just extremely private people? Since he couldn’t find a single trace of anything on the Farron daughters he decided to give up on what he deemed his fruitless Internet research.

His next bet was Hope, but just how much would Hope be willing to even tell him? Did he even know the whole truth and facts surrounding Lightning? Noel concluded that he would call Hope over to his place early the next morning before heading to the recording studio.

Around 6:20 a.m. Noel texted Hope a message stating that he needed to come over to his place because it was urgent. Hope was in the middle of the process of cooking breakfast when he received Noel’s message. At that point he only had enough time to cook breakfast for Lightning before heading over to Noel’s apartment.

Noel was still clad in his sleepwear which consisted of a short-sleeved navy blue cotton t-shirt and black sweats when the doorbell rang. He scurried down the stairs to his apartment’s front door. When he opened the door he was greeted by Hope already fully dressed for the day.

“Hey, Hope I’m glad that you made it.”   
Hope entered the apartment before Noel closed and locked the door behind him. Both of them then made their way over to the living room area. They each both took a seat on the living room’s cream-colored sofa.

“So, what is this urgent matter that you were referring to?” Hope began.  
“Hmm, let’s see where do I exactly start?” Noel swallowed hard before continuing. “It’s about Lightning.” “Yes, what about her?” Hope inquired.

There was no use in beating around the bush he needed to get straight to the point. “She bears an uncanny resemblance to Claire. You know the one from my childhood that I told you about.” Hope could easily put together where this conversation was headed. “And let me guess you think that Lightning is Claire is that it?”  
“To put it lightly yes.”   

Hope smiled. “So, you called me over to confirm whether this is true or not? Noel, I’ll tell you anything that you want to know about Lightning, if I can answer it that is, and I’ll answer your questions honestly.”

With Hope giving him the go ahead Noel started his rounds of questions. “Where did you first meet her?” “On the white sandy beaches of the seaside city of Bodhum, if you can believe it.” On to the next question. “Has she lived in Bodhum her entire life?” “Yes, she was born and raised there she’s lived in Bodhum her entire life. Here, I even have proof. I visited her parent’s house when I went to pick her up. I took some pictures of a couple of the poetry trophies that she won during primary school and high school.”

Hope handed Noel his cellphone and sure enough there were pictures of the trophies with plaques that clearly read out “ _Lightning Farron_ ”.

“How old is she?” “She’ll turn twenty-eight this coming summer.” She’s older than Hope by one year this fact didn’t surprise Noel. Hope did always gravitate towards older woman. There was a small silver lining in this response. Noel and Lightning shared the same age difference as he and Claire did. This year Claire would be turning twenty-eight also. Her age was one of the last things she said to him before they parted ways.

“Does she have any siblings?” “Yes, why in fact she does. Lightning has a younger sister whose name is Serah, and before you ask no I’ve never met her before. But Lightning does plan on inviting her to our album’s launch party once we set the date.”

Serah, huh? She just might be Noel’s final clue and the one who could potentially be putting the final nail in the Lightning/Claire coffin. Based on what Hope was telling him seemingly Claire and Lightning were two completely different people, but before Noel gave up on his notion all together he had to be 100% sure that Lightning was in the clear. He had a nagging gut feeling that he should continue placing all of his bets on Serah. She would be the decisive factor.   

The chances of Lightning being Claire dwindled with each passing question. Noel was now down to his final question. “You said you met with her parents what kind of people are they?”

Hope took some time before answering the question it was like he was trying to phrase his response tactfully. “Hmm, if I had to sum it up into words I would say that they’re very kind people and overprotective of their daughters. They wanted to keep their beloved daughters out of the limelight, which would allow for them to grow up and lead relatively normal lives. That’s why when you search for the Farron daughters up on the Internet little information let alone pictures are found of them.”

So that was the reason they didn’t want their daughters to grow up under the spotlight and under the media’s watchful eyes. It made sense Noel couldn’t argue with that.

Hope didn’t like to see Noel’s confidence being crushed right before him. He knew from the way Noel talked about Claire that he truly cherished her and longed to be reunited with her. But he had to be honest with him and Hope believed that it was better to know the truth than to cling to false hope.

Noel’s stomach started growling. “It looks like someone is hungry”, Hope quipped. “Yeah, I didn’t have time to eat breakfast before you came here.” Noel and Hope made their way over to the kitchen to whip of some breakfast before heading back over to Hope’s apartment to pick Lightning up.   

Two long months have now long passed since Ragnarok started the tedious production work on their 7th studio album. The whole process at times was a grueling chore, but in the end it would all pay off. The songs which Lightning composed were marvelous and had her signature style to them. The Ragnarok members were currently now putting the final touches and tweaks on their album before it went into mass production.

_Recording Studio Room_

Cid and Yuj retired for the night each of them heading home a little earlier than everyone else. Hope was fast asleep on the dark blue sofa located at the back wall of the room.

Over the course of them working together so closely on the album Noel and Lightning had built up a great rapport. Ultimately, becoming good friends. They were sitting next to each other at the oval table within the room conversing. “Lightning I’d like for you to listen to a song I self-composed, and I want you to tell me your honest thoughts on it.” Noel took out his mp3 player handing it over to her. It was already set up on the self-composed song track. Lightning placed the mp3 player’s earbuds into her ears and pressed play.

Noel tried to read her facial expressions as she was listening to his song. About halfway through the song, she pressed the stop button and took the earbuds out of her ears. “It was really good. I’m impressed at the quality of the song.” She said as she handed him back his mp3 player.

Noel’s face looked like he had just won the lottery. He breathed a sigh of relief. “You don’t know how relieved I am to here you say that. My parents were adamantly against this whole band thing. They thought I shouldn’t pursue it any further, and that I should go out and get a real job.”

“Well, it seems everything worked out in the end.” Noel found himself staring at Lightning examining her gorgeous facial features once again. It brought his thoughts back to Claire. “You look so much like her”, he said softly.

“I look so much like who?” Lightning had heard Noel’s statement. Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “Claire, a girl from my past”, he simply replied. Noel’s entire facial expression saddened after he mentioned her. Judging from Noel’s facial expression Lightning could surmise the subject regarding or relating to who this girl was and his relationship with her would be hitting very close to home, so she decided not to pry any further.

It was strange Lightning didn’t want to admit it, but whenever she was with or around Noel she felt nostalgic. She couldn’t quite place or explain exactly why but she did. “Well, it’s getting late. I better wake Hope up since he’s my ride home.”

  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, thanks for reading. Reviews are greatly welcomed and encouraged. I’ll be back to update very soon.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated.


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